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"Internet security continues to be a big concern for the British public, as online threats have become more common place," added Allen Scott, managing director at F-Secure UK and Ireland. "Vodafone is showing its commitment to its customer's broadband security in offering such a trusted internet experience".

According to F-Secure Security Advisor Sean Sullivan, the results paint a picture of Apple users as more mobile and more open to taking online risks, but also more open to adopting technologies that allow them to manage those risks. "It's interesting because people in the Apple community see it as being safer than others, and perhaps that's why they're more mobile and flexible when it comes to where they're willing to make commercial transactions. More Apple users have used VPNs, so more of them seem to be aware of both the problems and solutions to their online privacy."

"Information security threats are becoming more stealthy, sophisticated and complex, and we need to be able to provide services that help our customers prevent potential threats from becoming security incidents," said Fredrikson. "nSense's cybersecurity products and services help us expand into new industry segments and strengthen our capabilities to address the attack detection and prevention needs of enterprises. Adding their expertise to our own will allow us to develop new cybersecurity products, and we look forward to providing these to our customers to address their current and future security needs."

Recent research from F-Secure highlights the significance of exploits in the digital threat landscape. According to F-Secure Labs, exploits accounted for 40% of the top detections from crimeware campaigns during the latter half of 2014. The Angler exploit kit, which is a toolkit that gives criminals a simple set of software tools to help them create malware campaigns, was identified as the top digital threat in North America in F-Secure's most recent threat report, and included in the top 5 threats facing Europe and Oceania.

"Research tells us that most people worry about their online privacy, but it also tells us people don't know what to do about it", said F-Secure Executive Vice President, Consumer Security, Samu Konttinen. "They don't know what online trackers do, what kinds of information they can collect, or what companies can do with that information. The Privacy Checker essentially pulls back that magic curtain and exposes how online tracking works, so people can better understand how to protect themselves, and why".

"All of these threats are related to one another and share resources, but they're built a little bit differently to make them more effective against particular targets", says F-Secure Security Advisor Sean Sullivan. "The interesting thing about CozyDuke is that it's being used against a more diverse range of targets. Many of its targets are still Western governments and institutions, but we're also seeing it being used against targets based in Asia, which is a notable observation to make".

"Ransomware uses encryption or some other kind of mechanism to lock people out of their devices", says Mikko Hypponen, F-Secure's Chief Research Officer. "Criminals use ransomware to extort people by locking them out of their own devices unless they pay a ransom. Because of virtual currencies, it's becoming a lot easier for criminals to use ransomware, making it more profitable and more useful for them. For end users, ransomware is today the most prominent kind of digital threat".

BYOD can now offer productivity and security

"People want to relax when they travel, so bringing along their iPad or mobile phone or whatever to stay connected is pretty convenient - much better than hauling a laptop around", says Sean Sullivan, Security Advisor at F-Secure. "But companies have their own interests to protect. It's great that they're doing something, but their security procedures can lock people out of their own accounts without much notice. Travelers now need to be prepared for stuff like this if they're expecting access to online banking or other online services".

Attacks like these are difficult to notice because they can manipulate people in very subtle ways. "Attacks that target Internet settings often go unnoticed because they don't really have obvious symptoms for people to pick up on. People will suddenly see more ads, or they'll be misdirected to a dangerous website that looks and feels safe", says F-Secure Security Advisor Sean Sullivan. "This makes diagnosing these problems important, and Router Checker is all about making the diagnosis accessible and easy so that people don't have to worry".